Nonna

Nonna means "grandmother" in Italian- This is a post about my Mother in Law who lives in a hillside village outside of Florence Italy.She is now 88 years old, and still living by herself (by her choice)

We have seen a decline in her mental state over the past few years, with a noteable decline within the last 6 months. So much so that Guido (my husband) had purchased a ticket to go to Italy in early November - with the plan to convince her that she needed to accept help in her living situation.

 This is a picture I took of Cosmo and his Nonna (grandmother) in December 2006.

Well, last Monday the world spun just a bit too fast and she took a bad step and broke her leg. Luckily, she was out walking in her village and she was brought to the hospital by ambulance. (we have been fearing a fall in her house- knowing that she wouldn't be "found" for a long time) She was operated on successfully on Wednesday, and is possibly getting out of the hospital today. 

The problem is- her mental state.She is quite confused about where she is- thinks that she is at home- and what is happening- she claims that I have been visiting her- While we know that some of this is due to the medication we have also begun accepting that she is experiencing some form of dementia.

It has become clear that we cannot bring her home again, for her own health and safety.

Guido is currently with her in Italy- he cashed in his vacation time and is staying for a month (if not more) his mission is to find her a safe and reliable living situation. We don't know what her reaction will be to not returning to her home, but because of it's layout it may not be possible for her to be there. SO- we have no choice but to put her in a nursing home in Italy- 

It's tearing us apart- we really wanted to bring her here -to the US- to be near us so we could oversee her care- BUT-----she isn't a US citizen, speaks very little English, and wouldn't have medical insurance. I guess sometimes circumstances make our choices for us, but this is a bitter pill to swallow.

I am hoping by writing this here that one of my brilliant readers could have information about how we could bring her here..I know it's a longshot, but we are just distraught about having to leave her somewhere without our supervision. Moving back to Italy is a very last resort possibility- it would mean that we both would lose our jobs (and I would lose my business that I have been intensely creating over the past few years) and our son would be uprooted from his school (though some time learning Italian would do him good)

thanks for reading this- If you have any suggestions I would like to hear them- until she is in a good situation we will be a divided family. I can handle it- but for our son, it stinks. I guess I should feel thankful that I at least know that My husband isn't at war- and that I don't have to worry about his safety on top of it all.

thanks once again- 

ciao ciao- Maureen

About those pics of trash in our desert

It's 103* outside today in Tucson- almost impossible to go outside to check the mail
I stay inside on days like these- I drink lots of water, protect my skin with sunscreen and
eat fresh fruits to keep me hydrated.

You can bet that right now, somewhere in the desert
to the south of Tucson a mom, dad, son or daughter
is risking their lives trying to get to a better future for themselves.
Some won't make it.

YES, There are filthy, littered "rest stops". These are the last stations of shade and rest for the
poor people who have made the ill-informed decision to risk their lives by trekking through our scorching deserts trying to find a better way of life and help support their families

The areas are routinely cleaned by humanitarian aid workers like
the good people of Humane Borders http://www.humaneborders.org/
and Derechos Humanos http://www.derechoshumanosaz.net/
as well as other organized groups of concerned citizens

unfortunately sometimes the humanitarian workers also find corpses...of people who have been lied to-
Migrants that have been taken advantage of by their "coyote" (guides) and have been led to their deaths in the Sonoran desert.

This immigration issue is a terrible problem in many facets and there needs to be a wholehearted
compassionate and legal solution to the problem that Many people (both American and Mexican)
 are living and dying for.

Many won't even be found until their bodies have decomposed into
skeletons. It's the horror that is lived every day here in southern Arizona
- and we desperately need better policies that will
help prevent these tragedies while protecting the lives and properties of the good people who live in the border areas.

The SB1070 bill doesn't address the real issue -which is that of the desperation of poor people who have little other hope in their lives than to find a crappy job serving us privilaged Americans-
In my opinion, SB1070  only enforces a policy in a way that has been described as unconstitutional by
it's critics, and held up as a battleground solution by it's cheerleaders.

Without deep discussions, humane legislation, organization and planning we can only expect that the
cycle of illegal immigration, death and deportation will continue it's ugly circle.

ok- rant over.
peace- MBZ

Arizona SB1070- what labels?

This ring and my other "textie" label rings are my response to the current immigration debate that is plaguing Arizona (my current home) and the US. I wonder, would wearing this ring cause "reasonable suspicion?" and, does it matter where you come from, as long as you are living a peaceful and productive life?

"Alien" textie ring by Cosmo's Moon on Etsy

I live in Tucson, have been here on and off for 18 years. (I'm originally from the East coast)
I love that this community is diverse and has a rich cultural tradition that stems from it's origins as a Mexican outpost. We as a family know many different immigrant families here- most of them are from Mexico- but many are also from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

My husband is a recent immigrant to the US from Italy. He has felt the terror of "la Migra"-immigration patrol-. A few years ago we drove to San Diego from Tucson to attend a conference on Astronomy and Telescopes. Guido was set to present a paper and also had a few key roles to play in the conference as a representative on the University of Arizona.

When we were driving to California we were stopped at a Border Patrol checkpoint- when I'm driving they usually just peek into the car and say "have a nice day" and that's it. (it always makes me nervous anyways) Well, at this point in the trip Guido was driving- when we pulled up to the stop they looked at him and asked if he was born in the US. Guido (with his cute Italian accent) said "I was born in Italy" and that's where it all started.... 

They demanded to see his passport- (we were in the US) he showed them his AZ driver's license.Then they asked for his green card (he didn't have it yet- was here on a work visa) and when he told them that his passport was at home (300 miles away in Tucson) the pulled the car over and started to threaten him with deportation. Yes, that's right- deportation. With his American wife and child in the car. A man who has been a key scientist on one of the most important telescopes in the world- they were threatening to deport him. Some divine power came over me and I managed to not lose my temper. After 30 minutes of this discussion with the Border Patrol agent he finally let us go- with the warning that we had better get someone to fed ex us his Passport because if we got stopped again Guido would be taken into custody. It was absolutely ridiculous and terrifying- and we have never driven to the coast since.

2 years ago Guido got his citizenship. He voted for the first time for the US president (Yay!) and he is happy to be a part of our democracy. And then, there came Jan Brewer.

When President Obama tapped our Governor Janet Napolitano as Secretary of Homeland Security we knew that Arizona would take a hit. When Janet left for Washington  we were saddled with a right wing backwards thinking Governor, Jan Brewer. Since she has been in office our education funding has been slashed to pieces and the state has gone into a financial free fall. The passing of the onerous SB1070 is the final straw.

This whole debate and law in AZ sickens me and many of my friends here in Tucson. I welcome it's repeal and a healthy thoughtful concentrated debate and solution to our immigration policy. We cannot let families be torn apart by a knee jerk , poorly conceived law. Sadly I do believe that things are going to worsen because of the amount of fear that it generates and by the latent racial prejudice that it promotes. We already have had a couple of reports on the news of "illegals" committing violent crimes- only to find out a day or two later that it was no immigrant- it was an idiot meth head.
I can only hope that AZ can find a way to resolve this fear mongering and look ahead to a more thoughtful and humane solution.


One Love one heart, Let's get together and it will be alright.